1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an input apparatus for selecting an input mode operation in which input positions shown by indication marks are selectively touched and a coordinate input operation can be performed on the same operational plane.
2. Description of the Related Art
Input apparatuses for mobile phones or the like are provided with an push-button-type input unit used for various operations, for example, for inputting telephone numbers, connecting/disconnecting lines, etc.
Recently, mobile phones have been commonly used for establishing connections to the Internet, and various kinds of services have been provided via mobile phones. Accordingly, various kinds of menus are shown on displays of mobile phones and operations of selecting from such menus are frequently performed.
In order to select an item from a menu, input apparatuses of the known art are provided with a push-type or stick-type input unit for inputting directions in addition to the above-described push-button-type input unit. The push-type or the stick-type input unit is used for moving a mark to a position indicating an item selected from a menu.
However, in input apparatuses of the known art, since the input unit for selecting an item from a menu is provided separately from the push-button-type input unit, there is a problem in that operability is degraded. In addition, since the direction in which the mark indicating the selected item is moved on a menu is limited to the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, it is difficult to quickly select an item from a menu. In addition, it is impossible to input hand-written characters by using the above-described input unit.